DIES NATALIS 2776 a.V.c.
A camera, a lens and a battery in my pocket
There's no denying it, I'm a repeat offender.
I love the history of my city and I love photography and, whenever the opportunity arises, I combine these two passions.
On April 21, 2023, Rome turned 2776 years old.
As every year, the celebrations took the city back in time. A time when the Urbe was the center of the world.
And as every year, the Gruppo Storico Romano took on the burden and honor of organizing the event.
Gruppo Storico Romano with whom, in 2013, a collaboration was born that led to the creation of the photographic works “DCCC Ab Urbe Condita” (that is, 8 centuries since the founding of Rome) and “La via Dolorosa” (Via Crucis).
In fact, a photograph taken for the work DCCC Ab Urbe Condita was used as the symbolic image of the event and this, needless to say, pleased me.
©Max Angeloni - All rights reserved
The celebrations lasted 4 days but my reportage concerns only the day of the historical parade. I am fascinated by this impressive mass of reenactors who, with passion and sacrifice, manage to take the city back to a time thousands of years ago. Reenactors who come from very far away. Italy, France, Spain, Hungary, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Georgia, Czech Republic, USA, Bulgaria, Austria and from... a galaxy far, far away.
I have photographed the historical parade many times. But every time there is something new to discover. For the occasion, I decided to use only one camera and one lens.
The intention was to isolate the photographed subjects as much as possible from the “modernities” of the surrounding environment. Obviously, it is an impossible task to fully accomplish, but with a bit of attention in choosing the equipment and a slight vignette in post-production, I managed to get as close as possible to the result I wanted to achieve.
The Fujifilm XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR is the perfect lens to achieve the goal. A very controversial lens if you read some reviews written by the "scientists" of the web. In reality, if we keep it away from keyboards and monitors, at a safe distance from bookshelves and unworthy photographic subjects, and shoot "cum grano salis," that is, aware of how to use super-bright lenses, the Fujifilm XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR for me represents the state of the art of lenses produced by the Japanese company.
Obviously, you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of such extreme lenses. For example, if you expect to get appreciable results in full summer light, wide open, using the electronic shutter at 1/32000, the only result you will achieve is the awareness that you and photography are two incompatible realities.
Since this is not a lens specifically designed for "action" photography, the Fujifilm XH2s will come to the rescue by offering autofocus that is certainly adequate even in the most complex photographic situations.
With this combination, I have shot weddings, ceremonies, studio photo shoots, and videos, always achieving the results I set out to obtain.
I will always repeat this: don't just look at the photos on the monitor but print them, then print them, and finally print them. The true and only destination of Photography with a capital "P" is printing.
But let's go back to the Circus Maximus and the celebrations for the Birthday of Rome. It's a very warm spring Sunday and I'm glad I didn't bring my camera bag full of equipment. A spare battery in my pocket, Acros simulation in the camera to preview black and white directly in camera, autofocus set to AF-C and apertures set between f1 and f2.
Nothing else is needed.
Happy Birthday, Rome.
Photos taken in RAW and developed with Adobe Lightroom Classic v. 12.3.
